According to reports, Marathon world record holder, Kelvin Kiptum has lost his life at the age of 24 following a car crash in Kenya.
The 24-year-old died alongside his coach, Rwanda’s Gervais Hakizimana, 37, on Sunday 11 February , in his home country, Kenya near Kaptagat, an area in the south-west of the country used as a training base for distance runners.
It was gathered that a 32-Year-old female passenger, Sharon Chepkemoi, survived the road crash after being taken to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.
Kiptum’s body was reportedly found under the vehicle with the runner already dead, and Hakizimana still alive on a hill.
However, sources say; ‘We tried to save the coach because he was still breathing, but he died immediately. Kiptum was laying under he car with his seat belt ripped and he was already dead”.
Media reports said that Kiptum lost control of his vehicle at Kaptagat area along the Eldama Ravine-Eldoret on his way back from Eldoret in Uasin Gishu County.
Meanwhile, President of Athletics Kenya, Jackson Tuwei, stated that the vehicle veered off the road into a ditch before hitting a big tree 60 metres from the main road.
Tuwei noted that the bodies were conveyed to a health facility for an autopsy which will commence after the families had been briefed and ‘all agreements are done’.
He disclosed that the sad incident occurred at 8pm GMT on Sunday, 11pm local time, and that the vehicle was ‘extensively damaged’ and towed to a local police station for ‘inspection and police further action’.
A Police commander for Elgeyo Marakwet County in western Kenya Peter Mulinge confirmed that the two men that died ‘on the spot’ were Kiptum and Hakizimana, with Coe leading the tributes to the Marathon world record holder
